Fifteen percent of Americans have now used a website or app to look for a romantic partner; three years ago, only nine percent had.As it happens, the only group which has taken to online dating at a rate like very young adults have been older adults.The survey doesn’t say, but it provides some clues.In the two years between this Pew poll and the last, the percent of 18 to 24-year-olds who had used dating apps on their phone vaulted from five percent to 22 percent.Across all American adults, use of dating apps tripled, though the raw numbers aren’t as impressive.In 2013, three percent had used a smartphone dating app. The study polled 2,001 adults in the United States, mostly during June of last year.That’s the most interesting result from a Pew Research Center survey released Thursday on Americans’ online-dating habits.
Eighty percent of Americans think a website like Ok Cupid or an app like Tinder are good ways to meet people.
And of college-educated Americans, and also Americans who make more than ,000 per year, knew someone who used a dating site or app: These were the only two majorities recorded for this part of the section.
(That said, college graduates don’t use dating services at more than an average rate.)What made millennial adoption of online dating grow so much?
Only 38 percent of men said they felt the same way.
It’s like that old quote, often attributed to Margaret Atwood: Women are afraid men will kill them.